


Cross the Rift

by Anonymous



Category: Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game)
Genre: Crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:34:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29972601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: There's worse places than Night Raven College.  Sometimes they come visit.(More characters in later chapters.)
Kudos: 6
Collections: Unofficial FFA Anon Collection





	Cross the Rift

Kirie had stopped by Sam's before going back to Ramshackle; Grim had gone off on his own and was probably causing trouble somewhere. "Are you closing now, Sam?"

"Oh, I have time for one more customer, little demon." Sam tipped his hat. "What do you need? Study guide, midnight snack, energy drink, some ghost-chasing charms for your dorm?"

"No, the ghosts are fine. Do you have any green tea?" Kirie blinked at motion behind Sam, startled to see people — not people. Spirits. Not like the ones in the dorm, those were a lot less dangerous. Not all of them looked like people, either.

"Green tea? Coming right — see my friends on the other side, do you?" Sam's expression shifted from his normal cheerful grin to studying her speculatively. "Now that's interesting." 

The door closed quietly behind her as some of the spirits moved outward. They looked like animals, or like a spirit's idea of animals, moving over the ceiling and walls like shadows. Kirie raised her hand defensively as one of them reached toward her. Pain shot through her arm from wrist to shoulder, and the spirits stopped where they were. One of the spirits who'd stayed closer to Sam, a woman with red hair and colorful patterns painted on her face, made a beckoning motion and the spirits flowed back in that direction.

"Don't see that everyday." Sam sounded more intrigued than surprised. "See a lot of spirits back home, huh?"

"They're not like the ones here." These weren't human ghosts at all.

"Guess they wouldn't be." The patterned spirit-woman turned to talk to him, and even from here Kirie could tell she was powerful, more powerful than any spirit she'd encountered before. She couldn't make out the words, just tone and inflection, and Sam's expressions — startled, then thoughtful, then a nod as the spirit laughed. "Green tea coming up. Got a few other items you might be interested in." A package of tea appeared on the counter, followed by two neatly folded cloths and a necklace. Sam picked up the necklace, a wooden charm, intricately carved and painted, on a multi-colored braided leather cord, and held it out. "Keeps people from seeing things you don't want them to see. Same with this fabric here." He shook his head at her expression. "Wouldn't have customers if I told tales."

The fabric was smooth cotton sarashi, as good or better than the one she was wearing, with a white on white pattern the same as the ones on the charm. "What — why are you — ?"

The woman-spirit spoke directly to her, her tone shifting between curiosity, amusement and exasperation when Kirie didn't understand. She shrugged and turned to speak to Sam instead. "Not a lot of people like me and you around, so she's curious. Come back in a few days, maybe you manage an actual conversation." Sam shook himself, gave her a price for everything, and started packing up the goods. "Now I am closing up shop. Got a nice tea set for you, fifteen percent off!"

She took the tea set, paid up and took the box out, Sam closing the door behind her. She was surprised to see Grim, Ace and Deuce on the way to Ramshackle.

"Did you buy me lots of tuna cans?" Grim jumped up and sniffed at the box.

"You have a hoard of tuna cans already."

Grim grumbled and Deuce took the box. "Don't let Sam talk you into buying all that stuff."

"He's not dumb like you." Ace rolled his eyes. "Riddle put together some study guides for you and Deuce volunteered us to bring them over."

"You invited yourself along. Anyway, we can study together!"

\------

Being the school handyman would have been less troublesome than being a first-year; she'd gotten used to arranging her own schedule around working and being able to eat and drink during the day. Ramshackle was too far away for a bathroom break. At least she still remembered the math and science from cramming for her certificate; the math was useful, even if the science sometimes wasn't. Grim complained that there weren't any classes today and went back to sleep; she dressed quickly and hurried for the stable.

Riddle had talked her into joining the equestrian club, probably mostly so he could have someone other than Silver and Sebek around. She'd been surprised to find out that she enjoyed it, and found most of the related chores tolerable. The stable had curtained changing rooms and a single-occupant cubicle bathroom, which made her life much easier. Nobody had remarked on anything yet, either out of politeness or indifference. They spent the early morning doing a full clean-out of the stable, with Sebek and Silver taking turns to throw the bedding out onto the manure heap, and all of them sweeping, cleaning, and putting down fresh bedding. 

She saddled and bridled her horse with Riddle's help, and they rode out. Everything seemed different from horseback, even if it was just a slightly different perspective, and they seemed to be surrounded by small wildlife, especially birds. Maybe that was just Silver, though, there were more around him. The trees were starting to turn brilliant colors, there was a refreshing breeze, and even Sebek was being quiet. She felt something on the way back that reminded her of a shrine back home, and looked to the side to see a fox watching them from the side of the trail, half-hidden in the undergrowth, before it turned away and vanished. It looked just like the ones back home.

Back at the stables, they unsaddled and groomed the horses, then turned them out to pasture and put away the tack. Riddle and Silver would bring them in at night. Riddle was pleased with her progress and said she'd make a good rider with practice.

"Have you had any success with Ramshackle?"

"I've gotten some cleaning done." Their room and the bathroom were — better than they had been anyway. "I'll catch Grim and get some more done today."

"If he's being difficult, I have a collar the perfect size."

\------

There were fewer spirits visible in Sam's shop this time: some of the shadow-animals and the spirit woman with the red hair, a tall, almost skeletally thin male spirit. She could hear the spirit woman talking to Sam, but couldn't make out any words. A brace of candles flared to life and she jumped.

"Just a little parlor trick from New Orleans, little demon."

"New Orleans?" She turned to him, even more startled. "There's a city called New Orleans in my world."

Sam's eyes lit up with interest. "Tell me all about it."

It was across the world from Japan, so she'd never been there. She'd read some books, seen travel programs and a documentary about it, and Sam showed her an album of old photographs that looked like a lot of the same places. They didn't look quite the same, but she didn't know if that was because of time, this world, or just TV making things look different. She'd heard about voodoo, a little, but not much.

"People who talk to spirits? Not ghosts."

"Loa," Sam corrected her. "You always see ghosts?"

"Since I was little. My mother too." Her mother had been caught second-to-last in the ritual when she'd been a child. She'd said her mother had been second-to-last too. She wondered what her mother was doing now, hoping she hadn't gotten sick again. The spirits — loa — were listening too, and the spirit woman leaned in, saying something.

"Mother to daughter, huh? None of the boys?"

"I don't think so. Or not very often."

There was another conversation between the loa and Sam, which she was pretty sure she wasn't supposed to hear, even if she'd been able to understand. She studied some of the things hanging on the walls, mostly colorful with intricate patterns; some of them looked like they might be related to the pattern on the charm he'd sold her, and others were related to each other. She didn't know what any of them meant.

"All right, little demon. You come help me around the shop a few times a week, I teach you about voodoo and loa, you teach me about whatever you got. Deal?"

Sam was going to come out of this better than she was, but it didn't seem immediately dangerous. And it was interesting, she couldn't deny that. "Deal."


End file.
